Chapter 2

This chapter is for those struggling with self harm urges. The stages of an urge from beginning to end go trigger: An urge is triggered by a person, place, thought, feeling, or something else. Rise: The urge becomes more intense. This may happen gradually or very suddenly. Peak: The urge reaches its most intense point. It may feel as if the urge will never go away. And lastly, fall: The urge loses intensity and eventually fades away. The stages of surfing the urge itself go like this: Notice, name, accept, investigate, allow and release. 1. Notice how you feel. 2. Name the emotion. 3. Accept the emotion. 4 Investigate the emotion. 5. Allow and release the emotion. Now that we have gone through the scientific methods, here's an activity that I recommend you do. First, get a piece of paper, a pencil, and a private space. This activity is for you and you alone. Then answer the following questions one by one. 1. Write 5 ways self harm negatively impacts your life. 2. What positive behaviors have you used in the past in place of self harm/what positive behaviors CAN you use in place of self harm. 3. List a few things that have triggered you to self harm in the past and how you could've reacted better. 4. List 3 distractions that you can use during a crisis or while feeling an urge. And 5. Write an encouraging letter to yourself about getting clean and getting out emotions, write good things whether you believe them or not. For example, here is my letter to myself. "Elliot, Overwhelmed, empty, out of control. I know that's how you feel right now but I promise it will be ok. You're gonna do great and I'm so proud of you, even though you're going to self harm when you get home. You accepted and worked through treatment. Even though you're scared, you have a great support system and you are amazing and loved. You deserve health and happiness and will one day achieve it. Try your best no matter what happens and be brave. Talk through your issues and try to stay clean. I know you can do it. You will get through this. -Yourself." Try your best on the activity if you choose to do it and don't push yourself too hard. In the next chapter we will talk about dysregulation and the anger iceberg, thank you for reading this chapter of My Journey Through Mental Health, Going Through it Together.